ARMENIAN SOCIETY: NO RIGHT TO CHOOSE
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Aug 16 2013
16 August 2013 – 12:18pm
David Stepanyan, Yerevan, exclusive to VK
Analyzing the recent actions of the power-holders in Armenia, it
seems that, not having the ability and willingness to contribute to
the well-being of the population, they have decided to do this by
getting rid of some part of it. Back in the early 1990s this line was
formulated by the “father of Armenian democracy”, Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
who said that for a limited resource base the Armenian population
of three million is extremely numerous. Now, by this logic, the
authorities are creating conditions to enrich themselves by setting
intolerable living conditions for the population.
This is done in a simple way: in the first place – by increasing the
tax and administrative pressure on the citizens stubbornly unwilling to
leave their homeland. Having failed to achieve the 50 per cent increase
in fares on public transport, the authorities took up the case with
another aspect. The company “City Parking Service” which has recently
appeared in Armenia stated that by the end of 2014 in Yerevan 20,000
paid parking places will appear, as well as 5,000 cameras to monitor
in these areas, which angered the car owners. It is noteworthy that
70% of the income from parking places will be received by “Parking
City Service”, and only 30% will go to City Hall. The company was
founded in September 2012 specifically to win the tender. However,
the name of the founder – Tigran Harutyunyan – explains a lot. He
is the son of the owner of the company “MIC-metal” and friend of
President Serzh Sargsyan – Michael Harutyunyan. By the way, Michael
Harutyunyan is an uncle of another official and billionaire, the head
of the Judicial Acts Compulsory Enforcement Service, Mihran Poghosyan.
This raises the question: if City Hall intends to fund its budget
with the new levies, then what explains the absurd decision to get
only 30% of revenue from parking places? The refusal of City Hall
to implement this by itself also looks absurd. Moreover, according
to the director of the newly-founded company, “City Parking Service”
intends to invest a total of 10 million dollars in the organization
of paid parking places in Yerevan by the end of 2014. Thus, the law
“On State Duty” of Armenia does not include a single item that would
establish that 70% of the amount in the budget should go to a private
company. Article 7 of the Act states that all state tax must go to
the district budget.
According to tariffs established by the Council of Elders of Yerevan
Municipality, which consists mostly of Republicans, parking from
5 minutes to 1 hour will cost 100 AMD, a day – 500 AMD, a week –
1000 AMD, a month – AMD 2000, and a year – 12,000 AMD. Notably,
failure to pay for parking will be punishable by a fine of 5,000 drams.
The streets of Yerevan were painted with red lines marking parking
areas. The public areas were left to the private company. It was
also given a database of car owners, the same company got the right
to install traffic cameras and to fine citizens, which is a flagrant
violation of the Constitution and human rights. It is noteworthy that
only “City Parking Service” can provide answers to questions as to
what specifically cameras will shoot, how it is argued that the car
owner is in breach, but given that the company is not an organization
of public importance, it does not have to provide this information.
.
The decision to introduce paid parking has caused a flurry of
discontent on the part of citizens. On Facebook an initiative has
been created urging the public to boycott the decision of the city
authorities, which completely contradicts not only the Code of
Administrative Offences, but also the Constitution.
In general, nobody denies that Yerevan needs car parking. However,
there is a real need for real car parks, underground or fenced parking
places, where the car will be protected. However, as in the rest of
the issue, the authorities decided to go off the beaten path, just
decorating the kerb of the streets. The vehicle is not protected
from raids and accidents, given that it continues to be almost on
the roadway.
A few streets in the center of Yerevan which were not noticed by “City
Parking Service” are threatened by security cameras and equipped with
a road sign “stopping is forbidden”. Thus, all car owners parking at
the edges and in the squares are punishable by fines of AMD 5000.
Drivers will either have to pay illegal levies to the hangers-on to
power or pay the same illegal fines to the same hangers-on. Moreover,
70% of fines imposed on drivers in Armenia are flowing into the company
Security Dream, owned by the president’s brother Sashik Sargsyan.
The story of the car parks has once again demonstrated the desire in
influential circles for cash without making any physical or mental
effort. However, the authorities still leave a choice – a ticket for
a plane, preferably flying far away from Armenia.